By Jannatul Ferdous '24
Many people know archaeology to be the study of human history by discovering and analyzing various artifacts. Archaeology involves traveling and digging up human or animal remains for investigating humankind's past and its physical anatomy.
If you've visited a museum, you've probably encountered human bones displayed in a glass-sealed box. However, have you ever asked yourself if it was ethically reasonable to display the bones of a living, breathing human being from the past for the entertainment or education of others? Have you asked yourself if it's acceptable to make decisions about the lives of the deceased without consulting their family members? Who makes these decisions to exhibit the physical and sometimes personal lives of people who have walked the earth?
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, it was not unfathomable to see souvenirs of mummies being sold to tourists. It seems like people have deviated away from the educational aspect of displaying deceased remains, particularly the remains found in Egypt, and gravitated towards garnering profit. Many museums charge admission fees for entrance.
I acknowledge that museum employees, archaeologists, and those who specialize in curating ancient artifacts and need to be paid a living wage. However, I am merely noting the fact that this system is hypocritical. If the purpose of museums is solely to educate and bring awareness to human civilization's past, then the government should intervene and pay these workers. This would allow museums to eliminate entrance fees.
In addition, in the period where archeology flourished, it was normalized to display the remains of the deceased while neglecting the opinions of their loved ones. It was only until the late 1900s when the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act ordered the return of these remains to their respective families. If this measure had been initiated in the past, why are there institutions, such as the Mütter Museum located in Philadelphia, that still carry the remains of many deceased humans? To specify, the Mütter Museum exhibits the anatomy of the human body and pathological specimens of the human body. The museum is located at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and medical students visit this museum to better grasp their anatomical knowledge. Like many other museums, the exhibitions are sealed in transparent glass to prevent observers from touching the models. Thus, the students gain information by visually looking at these models while reading the several descriptions placed next to them. Many medical students physically dissect human bodies in their fourth year of medical school. Others may dissect human or animal bodies in the form of wax figures. If students can't physically touch the models in the museums, why are students observing human remains when they could just as easily retain the same information from a textbook? It seems like the museum is housing human remains unnecessarily.
The Mütter Museum displays some exhibitions of diseases and distortions seen in the human body, specifically affecting the skeletal system, for informative and educational purposes. Many family members or loved ones are already asked if they want to contribute the deceased person's organs to transplant them to other patients in hospitals. Some organizations ask patients if they would like to donate their brains for scientific purposes. Neuroscientists sometimes study these brains to compare them to healthier brains. This can thus help lead to cures for neurological diseases. However, in museums, it seems as if the sole purpose of these exhibitions is to educate people who can read the descriptions next to the exhibits to gain some information as to what occurred in the past. It does not help to generate any new solution to any given problem.
While museums may intend to serve as educational resources, it seems like there are other solutions to displaying human remains. While I acknowledge that people in museums' ethics committees may have justified displaying human remains in museums, it is essential to look at situations from different perspectives to become more critically aware of the deception that may be hidden around us.
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